


Walking Shadow

by DeltaPhazon



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Descent into Madness, Minor Character Death, Moral Ambiguity, Original Character(s), Puppets, Show Business, Street & Stage Magic, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22937695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeltaPhazon/pseuds/DeltaPhazon
Summary: “One life to give one hundred people one hour of amazement. That is the way of the magician.” Harriet Fairfield took her teachers words to heart. Perhaps too literally.
Kudos: 4





	Walking Shadow

“Life is but a walking shadow. A poor player that struts and frets his hour on the stage and then is heard no more.” From her seat, Harriet Fairfield watched as the magician walked on stage, shouting old Shakespearean rhetoric she didn’t quite understand. This man was her idol. The great Zalidan. A stage magician who captivated her and many others with tricks and a showy style unique to him. His tricks were the same as you could find at any show. It was what his critics hated about him. A hack. A plagiarist. They were all fools. He didn’t need to be special. It was the style that mattered. Harriet saw this and she knew. She watched as he wrapped a bird in a cloth and smashed it. The bird vanished before appearing in a storm cloud, flickering lights dancing through the smoke, and flying around the room before vanishing into the darkness of the cramped theatre. It was Harriet’s favourite trick. One she could never figure out. But a magician never revealed his secrets. Oh, but how she wished he would.

From an early age, Harriet was always a showman. Ever since her first introduction to stage magicians, she wanted to be one. Her mother was all she had, her dead beat father running out on them before she was even born, leaving them in a poor neighbourhood in Brooklyn. In order to help keep her mothers spirits up after her busy days slaving away for horrible bosses for scraps of money to keep them alive, Harriet practised magic tricks, doing card tricks to entertain her as she relaxed. She went on to make constant appearances in school talent shows as a stage magician under the stage name “Alice Liddel, The Mad Hatter”, inspired by the wonder and insanity of Lewis Carroll's famous book. She loved seeing the eyes of her fellow students and some teachers caught up in her show. The wonder on their faces as the magic happened. But, as she grew up and card tricks stopped being seen as mystical and instead just the art of a conman, she knew she needed something more. So, she decided to visit the man who had inspired her. Zalidan. She managed to scrounge up another money from paper rounds to get a ticket and watched in amazement. At the end, she approached him timidly as he was finishing autographs and asked him to teach her. The man decided to show her kindness, leading her to his back room and heard her out. In response, he laughed, showed her a few tricks and told her that, once she graduated high school, to ask again.

In her final year of high school, Zalidan was heavily injured in a car accident that ended without him being able to use his legs and, as such, was unable to perform anymore. However, this didn’t deter Harriet. After she graduated, she was accepted into a college near her idols home across New York City. She used it as a cover to visit him. One weekend, she approached the apartment block where the man lived in a fancy penthouse, living out the rest of his days a broken man. She called up. “Yes. Who is it?” Someone asked. It wasn’t him. A maid perhaps, Harriet thought.

“ Um. I’m here to see Zalidan?” She called in timidly. “ My name is Harriet Fairfield. I’m, uh, here to learn.”

“ Harriet Fairfield? OK.” The woman was hesitant. “ Please hold a moment.” Elena waited with baited breath. She wondered if he remembered her. Of course he did. He had too. The comm system sprung to life again. “ Alright. You can come up. Apparently, Dad has been expecting you.” Dad? Harriet stuck on this word for a brief second before going up in giddy excitement. She was met at the top by her hero, leaning forwards in his wheel chair, a smirk on his face, and a girl a few years older than Harriet behind him.

“ Harriet. It’s been a long time. Glad you remembered our promise.” Zalidan said with a laugh.

“ Of course I did. It’s been driving me for years.” Harriet smiled back at him. “ I was worried after I heard you quit show business. I’m glad to see your alright.” Zalidan waved her off.

“ Eh. I’m getting older. I’d probably be run off the stage at some point soon anyway. We can’t all live forever. After all, Life is but a walking shadow…”

“... A poor player that struts and frets his hour on the stage…” Harriet continued before being cut off.

“ ...And then is heard no more.” The woman behind her idol finished.

“ Ha. You’ve both got it. Impressive. Impressive.” Zalidan clapped. “Well, I should invite you in. Come. Come.” Zalidan wheeled himself back inside, the woman close behind.

Harriet followed them in and gasped. It was like a display of everything she loved. Magician’s equipment, posters, bird in cages singing. All dotted around a normal household. “ I should introduce you to my daughter. This is Gracia. Only one still bothering with this old bag of bones.”

“ Pleasure.” Gracia said. Harriet noticed Gracia glancing over at her every now and again, keeping watch.

“ Nice to meet you.” Harriet lowered her head slightly.

“ Now then. Gracia, would you…”

“ Teas already on.” Gracia started heading for the kitchen area of the penthouse.

“ I’d prefer something cold please. If it’s not too much of a bother.” Harriet said nervously. Gracia nodded. 

“ So. Harriet. How goes the stage work?”

“ Some of my tricks are a bit old, but I still get a gasp and a look of wonder. Not as much as when I started though.” Harriet gave the older man a determined look. “ That’s why I want to learn, Master Zalidan.”

“ Hmm. I see.” Zalidan nodded. “ My real name is James. James Carr. Zalidan was to try and make myself sound mysterious. I’d prefer you refer to me as James.”

“ A stage name. I have one of those too. Alice Liddel, The Mad Hatter.”

“ Already ahead of the curve. Lewis Carroll as well. Not bad.” The man nodded. “ So then, I’m sure you’re aware of the bird trick. I can show you that, if you’d like.” Harriet gasped.

“ That’s one of my favourites. I never figure out how to get the bird from one hand to the other. Even with flash paper, it just never works.” James’ face grew serious. His daughter placed their respective drinks down.

“ I’ll get set up.” James told her, taking his drink on a tray and wheeling off further into the apartment.

“ The bird trick, is it?” Gracia asked. Harriet nodded excitedly. Gracia closed her eyes and sighed. “ Then I suppose Dad is starting with the true soul of the magician. It’s a neat trick but it may ruin your image of stage magicians.”

“ Huh? What do you mean?”

“ You’ll see.” Gracia looked over to her. “ So. Why do you want to learn from Dad?”

“ He’s my idol. I love his works. He got me into magic. But I can’t do some of the bigger tricks and card tricks won’t last me long enough to make it. I want to go up on stage and make an audience’s jaws drop. Make them feel the wonder I do whenever I watched Zalidan as a kid.” Harriet looked over at Gracia, excitement in her eyes. “ That’s why I’m here. I want to become great. So, I want to learn from one of the greatest.” Gracia looked at her. Then she laughed lightly.

“ Seems I was worried for no reason.”

“ Huh?”

“ Sorry. Sometimes Dad gets hacks and crazies visiting, trying to steal his secrets without caring about the true art. But your different. I can see it.” Gracia smiled. Harriet giggled, grinning.

“ Harriet. I’m ready.” James called through. Gracia grabbed Harriet by the hand and led her in. James was sitting at a table with a cage, a bird and a cloth on it, his arms folded. “ Are you sure your ready?” Harriet nodded. James picked up the bird and gently placed it in a cage. “ Their is one secret you need to know if you’re planning to become a magician like me and the other greats, Harriet. You see, all that matters is the audience is removed from reality just for an hour. They see wondrous acts and have their concept of reality questioned time and again, flipping the world on its head. It has to be seen to be believed. The impossible made possible. If they are happy, that’s all that matters. Keep them on their toes in amazement.” James lifted the cage, leaving the cloth where it was. Harriet watched, ready to see the trick to the magic happen. James breathed, placing one hand on the top of the cage and closing his eyes. Gracia looked away. “ Nothing else matters.” James pressed his hand down.  
The birds bones snapped and cracked as the cage crushed it to death.

“ W-What?” Harriet’s voice was small. As the cage collapsed and the bird died, she felt a part of herself go with it. Her mouth hung open somewhat as James placed the cage down and lift another bird from under the table and place it on the cloth.

“ You see now? The trick?”

“ You… You killed it?”

“ I did. The bird doesn’t move from one arm to another. The second bird is just a different bird.”

“ But… why?” James sighed.

“ The span of a bird like this is two years. It is born, learns to fly, eats berries, shits on some rich bastards expensive car, lays a few eggs and dies. But, in the hands of a magician, it can provide wonder and amazement for an audience for an hour. It gains a worth.”

“ Worth?”

“ How many people are in an audience do you think? Fifty? A Hundred? Five Hundred?” James asked sternly. “ If they are all entrapped by this trick even for one hour, that’s more worth than it have had for its entire life as a wild animal. “One life to give one hundred people one hour of amazement. That is the way of the magician. Anything goes. It’s all for the audience. Do you understand?” Harriet still looked shocked. “ Do you still want to learn from me? You can leave this place. Live a normal life. Away from all this. All the drama. All the criticism. All the cutthroat goings on behind the curtain. I wouldn’t blame you.” Harriet breathed, gathering her nerves. Then she shook her head.

“ I came here for a reason.” She told her idol. “ I want to learn it. Please. Teach me.” James looked at her, the fires of determination still in her eyes but robbed of its innocence. He nodded.

“ Very well. I accept you. Alice Liddel. I’ll teach you how to surpass me.”

********************

For the next five years, James taught Harriet everything he knew until she had mastered the tricks. She even saw ways to improve some of his tricks and evolved them into his own. James was proud of his apprentice. At the same time, she worked to graduate from College with an English Literature degree. The degree was secondary but it helped certain aspects of her career on stage. After four years under his tutelage, thanks to James connections, Alice Liddel, the Mad Hatter, appeared in her first show. By this time, using animals in magic shows had been made taboo due to animal cruelty activism gaining traction, but Harriet worked around it, sticking to simpler things and one major disappearing act involving a stage hand. Dressed in a red top hair adorned with a black diamond design, a red and black suit with matching cape and a cane, “Alice” put on her first show, fighting through the nerves to show off a number of exciting tricks to a wide eyed audience. Some critics called too much of a nervous wreck, stumbling over words, but admitted that, if she got over them, she could be something great.

At the same time, Harriet and Gracia had grown into extremely close friends, often seen together shopping in high end stores. Several rumours started on certain sites of dedicated Zalidan fans of them being together. Gracia attributed them to horny incels who love the idea of any females being together, even if any other evidence proved otherwise. Harriet always laughed at her mocking jokes at their expense.

But then tragedy struck. Seven years after she had first been in his apartment to learn, Harriet was dressed in black in a cemetery mourning the man who had been her idol and teacher. James had suffered from a fatal stroke one evening and had passed in a restaurant with his daughter at his side. Harriet never got to see goodbye, something she blamed herself for. Gracia found comfort in each others arms. It was at that point the rumours stopped being rumours.

However, it only lasted a year. Another tragedy struck. Gracia and Harriet were driving home, back to the penthouse Gracia inherited from her father, after a night out. A drunk driver cut them off, smashing into the drivers side of the car. Gracia was rushed to the hospital but died several hours later. Harriet was there for her this time, miraculously uninjured. Gracia was buried next to her father. The drunk driver was charged with manslaughter and imprisoned. Harriet said he should have gotten worse.

The following year after that, following a year of hollow smiles in her magic shows, Harriet was at the graveyard again. A different one this time, but she was still burying someone. It was her mother this time. Died of over exhaustion from working too hard. She sued her workplace. It wasn’t enough. Her father had the gall to show up to the funeral to try and reconnect, or that was his story. She didn’t want to hear it. Broke his nose for daring to even show his face. She never heard from him again.

  
********************

“ Bad things come in threes.” Harriet muttered. “But don’t ever apologise for the way your eyes refuse to shine.” It had been two years. Two long, brutal years. She couldn’t find her fire after her mother died. Her manager, Rian, still found her gigs. And she went on stage, acted like a fool and made the audience gasp at her shows. But she didn’t feel it anymore. She lost her self. She tore another news paper in half. She was sick of critics. They didn’t know her life. They couldn’t say she wasn’t energetic enough. That her works were just rehashes of the late, great Zalidan. She was trying to steal his fame. No respect for the dead. “Fuck them.” She snorted.

“ Um. Miss Liddel?” A nervous stage hand peered in the room.

“ What?”

“ Um. We have an… issue with the big set piece. It’s the ways the fireworks would go off. It’d burn the contraption to pieces.”

“ Then tone the things down.”

“ We can’t. Even at the lowest space…” Harriet groaned, getting up. She marched towards the back stage. Before her was a large, three sectioned box. The idea was she was going to put a stage hand in it. He would fall through the floor via a trap door, leaving very free to stab the thing with swords. It would “accidentally” start spewing flames, creating a smoke screen that, when added to with a fog machine, would create a strong enough cloud to hide the fact they’d wheeled the box off stage and let the stage hand reappear, completely unharmed. She’d done it before. But this time, the box was one segment too short. It wasn’t hers. She was across country in Los Angeles and couldn’t get her gear ready in time. But the theatre said they had one ready.

“Where’s the fourth segment?” She asked.

“ F-Fourth?”

“ There are supposed to be four segments. The latter is made to stop exactly this shit from happening.” Harriet tapped her cane on the ground, impatiently.

“ T-There was no-”

“ Ugh. Can this place do anything right?” Harriet growled.

“ Sorry miss.”

“ Honestly. And where are the others? There were five of you working on all of this when I got here.”

“ T-They went home for the-”

“ We’re nowhere near ready. How are they gone?”

“ W-Well, it’s our contracted hours so-”

“ This would never fly in Brooklyn. Are you Californians brain dead or just lazy?” She growled, pacing. She went trough her head, quickly running through her options. She couldn’t get her gear over in time. The fog machine wasn’t enough for the trick alone. She couldn’t end the show without a final act. She couldn’t get a replacement, not without the proper support to build it. Her show was that night. What to do. What to do.

“ Um. If I may-”

“ Shut it.” Harriet didn’t mean to do what she did next. In her anger, she spun around. She swung the arm her cane was in around, not judging the distance he was away from her, and cracked across the side of his head. The boy stumbled backwards from the strike, tripped and smashed his head open on the side of the box. He died almost instantly. Harriet began to panic. If she was caught, she’d surely be imprisoned for manslaughter. It was accidental. She wasn’t on par with the bastard who killed Gracia. Then, while she was panicking, she remembered her teachers words. One life to give one hundred people one hour of amazement. She looked at the box and checked it over. It had a fake back. Harriet smiled. She hid the body in the fake back, altering her plans and cleaning up the mess. She stripped the boy of his clothes, dressed a manikin and tossed off the Golden Gate bridge on her way back to her hotel room. According to the news, the boy committed suicide.

Alice’s show went off without a hitch. Her final trick was altered. Her assistant for the night entered the box and passed through the trap door, as planned. Then she started stabbing swords into the box, dancing around giddily as always. This time, however, she was truly excited. This was a new trick.  
“ So, en.” Alice spoke, her usual over the top Cockney, or at least as cockney as she could manage, accent in order to stick with the Alice in Wonderland theme of her shows, on full display as she spun in a circle. She brushed the sides of her cape before pushing it backwards, taking the swords she hid earlier in the seams from them in a way that made them seem like the appeared magically. “ Now ‘at my lovely assistant is snug in his little box, how’s about we wake ‘im up a little, yeah?” The audience agreed. With a giggle and another spin, Alice took two swords and readied them. “ It’s like Pop up Pirate, ain’t it?” Her audience laughed. Harriet plunged on blade low. From below, as instructed, the stage hand screamed in fake pain. “Oh. I think I hit ‘im.” Alice joked. She then drew another sword as she stabbed the box again. She repeated the process five time, each time the man below screamed in pain. From the edges of the box, blood slowly began to seep out. There were mumblings of concern from the audience. Alice could barely hold in her excitement. “ Hmm. Well, I know this looks bad. But, I ain’t the bloody Red Queen. I’m the Hatter. Now ‘en, I just have to…” Alice tapped the box. The firework devices activated. The box began to burn. The audience gasped in horror. “ Oops.”

“ Oh god. It burns.” The stage hand yelled from below.

“ Ah. Well. I know this looks bad but-”

“ Murderer.” One of the audience members yelled. Alice pouted

“ Wait ya turn.” She said, unimpressed. “ Now then, I happen to be a necromancer. So. If you would give me ya energy.” Alice kicked her cane up, caught it and spun it around as she walked across the stage. “Oh spirit of the damned, return to us. Ah one. Ah two. Ah three. BOOM!” Alice slammed the ground down, a loud clack echoing around the room. Smoke billowed up from the secondary trap door as, like a spirit returning from the dead, her assistant rose from the ground. “ Ey. See. He’s alright, folks. Give our zombie a round of applause, would ya?” Slowly, the crowd broke out of their stupor. Alice watched with giddy glee at the wonder and amazement on their faces as they realised what had happened. The applause was thunderous. Alice grinned. One life for all these people to be amazed, she thought. Worth every second. “ Thanks for coming, folks! I hope you enjoyed coming to my Wonderland.”

“ That wasn’t planned, Harriet.” Rian yelled at her on the plane ride back.

“ Have to keep some ideas to myself.” Harriet told him back, looking out the window. “ Wanna keep you on your toes too. No fun if everyone knew my plans.”

“ I suppose not but please tell me the next time you do that.” He sighed. “ How’d you manage that anyway?”

“ If you must know, I put a manikin in the fake back with bags of pigs blood I had brought over from the local butcher tied to it. My loving assistant cried out in perfect timing with the stabs. Seriously, send that guy a little bonus. He deserves it.”

“ I’ll get on it. So. I take it you’ll try that again?” Harriet smiled.

“ I think I will.”

********************

Harriet knew that, if she was going to try it again, she’d need a body. Actually tying a manikin up with bags of pigs blood wasn’t the same. She needed an actually body in there. It was at this time, while she was wandering around New York, that she tripped over a homeless man asking for money. A plan formed in her head.

She hired three men in secret. They were mafia, their boss having struck a deal with her. In return of hiring them, she had to give him 15% of her show earnings for every show they were hired. It was a hefty sum but Harriet found it worth it. These men kidnapped the homeless from off the street, and delivered them to Harriet, who had them dressed up like manikins and used as props in her magic shows. Not all of them were homeless. Some were people the mafia needed to vanish. Harriet knew but overlooked it. As long as she had props, she reasoned. Not all of them were dead on arrival either. Harriet loved those the most. Made the screams seem all the more real. Not all of them. But every one in three, she found herself calling them in. Her shows got more ambitious as she went on. She’d saw some of these bodies in two with saws, stabbed them with swords and fed them to piranha's in her place after she escaped the tank. The shows got critics calling her the “Bloody Red Queen”, keeping with her own theme of Alice in Wonderland. However, as the years went by, Alice just got more popular. It was then she got a big offer. It had been ten years since she started learning from James. Six since her first show. One and a half since she got her fire back from tragedy. She had been invited onto one of the biggest talk shows on the nation; The Jane Romero Show.

“ Today’s special guest is a famous magician who rose from the ashes of the tragic death of Zalidan.” Jane began. “ The Queen of Cards. The master of the Dodo and the Dormouse. The Mad Hatter. Alice Liddel.” Dressed in her magician attire, spinning her can around as she entered the room to roaring applause, posing for a moment, pulling the tip of her hat down and raising her arm into the air, before spinning a few times and leaping into her chair, Alice earned the usual laughs and cheers she’d expect.

“ Good Evenin, World. ‘Ow’s it hangin? I’m taking a break from Wonderland to enter the world of Jane Romero.” She announced, raising her cane into the air. “ And may I say, what a lovely world it is. Thanks for havin me, love.”

“ Not a problem, Miss Liddel. Thanks for coming.”

“ Please. Call me Alice. I ain’t one fah stuffy titles and the like. Live life mad and free. That’s the Wonderland way.”

“ Right. Of course, Alice.” Jane nodded herself. “ So, a lot of things have come from your shows. Can you share any inside knowledge with us.”

“ Ah ah ah, Janey. Can’t do that. You know the first rule a magic, right? A Magician never gives away ‘er secrets.” Alice winked.

“ Ha ha ha. Of course.” Jane laughed. “ So, what’s it like? Being one of the countries most sought after showmen?”

“ I’d imagine it’s the same as bein the countries most loved talk show ‘ost, Janey. Only a lot less meeting people ‘ike Gordon Ramsey and Chris Hemsworth and a lot more fire and madness.” Alice’s joke earned another laugh from the audience. “ How are these celebs IRL though? Are they as stunning as they look on the silver screen?”

“ Oh, they’re far nicer than they seem.” Jane told her. “ Speaking of knowing famous people, I hear you were the pupil of Zalidan. The man who shocked the masses countries over the last generation. His style of strutting around on stage like a Shakespearean actor, backed by claps of thunder. He seemed like an intimidating man. What was it like learning under him?”

“ Teach was quite the lovely man actually. He took his injury in stride. Oh. Bad choice of words.” Alice fake grimace. Some of the audience members chuckled. “ Nah, I kid. I owe everything to ‘im. He was my idol. I was lucky to learn from the best of the best.

“ There were also rumours about you being close to his family as well.” Alice twitched, feeling the mask almost fall for a second. “ The March Hare to your Mad Hatter, some people called you.”

“ His daughter, Grace, ya mean? Best friend. Horrid what happened to ‘er.” Alice looked away, hiding her disdain. “ But, I’ve been the bigger girl. Let go of me anger for her killer. If he wants to drop by my show and beg for forgiveness live on air to a couple a million people, I’d let him. He’ll never get it, but I ain’t angry no more.”

“ That’s very big of you.”

“ I sure you know some rotten apples ya self, Janey. Best not let ‘em stay with ya. Let the ghosts go free an all, yeah?” Alice was lying of course. If she learned he was free from prison early, what a fine manikin he would make. Maybe he’d ask for that one alive. Kill him personally. Slowly. Crush him piece by piece until-

“ So, how about we move on about your big tricks.” Alice snapped out of her trance.

“ Sure. Which one?”

“ A few critics have brought attention to the violence of some of your final shows. Nicknaming you “The Red Queen” instead of calling you the Mad Hatter as you call yourself. In fact, several have brought up a number of disappearances that happen near the time of some of your shows. 25 in total.”

“ Pah. Lies and Slander, Janey. I could go on about the stuff critics call you. What was it about ya new memoir? Uninspired life advice tacked on to a overly dramatic sob story?” Jane looked slightly annoyed.

“ Yeah. That sounds about right.”

“ See? Teach told me a lot a things. One of those was that the job of a critic is to be a complete as- erm, jerk. Stir the pot. Make up lies. Keep people away. They just take someone who they don’t like and throw as much mud at ‘em as possible. That’s all this story is. Lies and Slander. Heck, if I weren’t so thick skinned, I might’ve even sued ‘em for defamation. But I let the people decide what’s fact and fiction. That’s show business, right?” Jane moved on after that, talking about more typical affairs before jumping into a big segment about homelessness in New York. Alice wondered if she was taking a subtle jab at her with that.

After that, something happened that made Harriet hate Jane Romero. Jane was popular. Far too popular. So, when she even insinuated Harriet could be involved with the disappearances, a lot of people started looking into it. This led to a lot of hit pieces and a lot of her venues dropping her in order to avoid negative press. Harriet was seething, but Rian told her not to follow up with anything. It would just prove that there was something there. So Harriet was forced to sit on her hands, taking the few shows she could get. It was like this for 4 months. Then, she saw the news of the cops fishing Jane’s car from a lake.

Alice’s next show was with a number of co hosts from all different walks of life. A full six hour show in Jane’s honour. It was a show that Harriet let the other performers take all the screen time while, seeing as it’s under her name, she takes all the credit. She stayed away from the extreme final act things she was known for, instead keeping the evening focused on being a memorial service for Jane. A final send-off to a beloved talk show host.

And when everything was done and she was back in the countries good graces, she laughed. Laughed as she watched Jane’s last show, of the woman she claimed what was her mother told her she wasn’t. Laughed as she thanked Jane for giving her fame back with her death after taking it in life.

********************

Things picked up for Harriet over the year. She was still watched by the media in case of any connections she may have had to the disappearances as they grew in number. In her shows, Alice grew more and more ambitious, leading to more victims kidnapped by the mafia. Around the time the number reached 49, Alice received a call from the mafia. Her group had been arrested. Harriet readied herself for a final show. She had a headache in the days leading up to this moment. Dreams of a void, black smoke. Whispers filling her head. But, this was her final show. And she was going to make sure it was one to be remembered.

She started as usual, ignoring Rian’s reports of a number of last minute tickets causing the theatre to be sold out. She was back home in Brooklyn. She liked how it worked out admittedly. She worked through her last show as if she was doing her usual routine. Watched at the look of awe and wonder on her audience’s faces. Reminded herself to leave a note to Rian to fire the kid who left the fog machine on, letting it roll throughout the seats. She made her best show yet. No flaws. Then, at the very end, she began her announcement.

“ Welp, ladies and gents. 'Preciate ya comin. Sorry to ‘ave to announce this, but this’ll be the last show a mine.” There was a gasp from the audience. “ I know. Bit of a short notice but I didn’t wanna make this a big deal. One last show. All the norms. All the bells and whistles. Go out blazin. So, as this is the final show though, I’m gonna issue you all a challenge.” With a spin of her cane, she tapped a large three segmented box behind her, causing the door to shoot open. “ After today, ta won’t see or hear from me ever again. I’m removing myself from the world completely. At least, ‘ats the plan. But, I will be out there somewhere. So, if ya can find me, I will tell ya every secret of mage craft I know. Every trick. Every secret. All stones of Wonderland upturned for you to see. But only the first person who can find me. First come. First served.” Alice glanced around the audience. Some of the hidden police were starting to get antsy. She flashed a wicked smirk. “ For the last time, Ladies and Gentleman. Thanks fah coming folks.” Aura stepped in the box. She took her hat off and tossed into the crowd.“ I hoped you enjoyed my Wonderland.” The door slammed shut. The box caught fire, becoming a plume of flames. There were gasps of shock and surprise and a round of applause. The curtains fell.

The police and stage hands put out the fire and checked the box. The trap door hadn’t been opened and yet there was no remains. The fire hadn’t killed her and yet there was no sign of her. Like she vanished into thin air. She deemed the mastermind behind the disappearances of the homeless people and had used them as manikins for her deranged magic acts, killing others like birds being crushed in a cage. However, news of this was kept under wraps. The media’s attention was drawn instead to Alice Liddel’s disappearing act. She was never found. Some thought she really did die in the flames. Others joked that she returned to Wonderland. And others thought that it was the one true act of magic Alice had ever done.

********************

Harriet's plan was to drop through the trap door and escape in disguise through the audience. Get her mafia contacts to fake her an ID. Move out to England or somewhere else. Use her English degree to become a teacher or something. However, when she fell, she kept falling a far distance. Through darkness and fog, she fell. Whispers filled her ears. Hundreds of different voices. Her teacher James. Gracia. Rian. Her Mother. The stage hand that was her first kill. She struggled to tune them out. Then she hit the ground. All there was before her, floating in the darkness, was a mirror. “What in the hell?” She muttered. For a moment, she thought that she may have died. Burnt to death on accident in her final trick. But she still felt everything. She tightened her hands around the cane in her hand. She felt the long cape brushing against her side. She was alive.

 _The show must go on._ The whispers said. _We can give you the greatest stage. All you must do is obey._

“ Who are you?”

 _Forever._ It was a different voice this time. _Eternity. The greatest chance you will ever have._

“ What are you on about? You’re making no sense.”

 _Step towards the Mirror._ Harriet did as she was told. In the mirror, she saw herself. But, not quite herself. She looked similar. Her attire was bulkier. A more reinforced version of the same thing. Her red top hat over her dark hair. Her red and black suit with cape, same as her hat, red with black diamonds covering it. She held her cane, wooden and polished with a black crystal sparkling at the top. Unlike the plastic one she had now, this one seemed real. Shining and sharp. She had black gloves on, heavy red boots and a mask covering her eyes, red outlining large white, blanks spaces. _Alice Liddel. The true Alice Liddel._

“The… true me?”

 _It was never about the magic tricks. You wanted real bodies to use. To torture. It was them that made the magic real._ The whispers warped into her teachers voice. _One life to give one hundred people one hour of amazement._

“Their lives were but walking shadows. But in the hands of a master, I made them so much more.” She said.

 _And we can promise you so much more._ The mirror shifted. Harriet’s eyes widened. She watched Jane Romero, in a filthy, dirt covered suit, huddling next to a bonfire. She talked to a number of other people. A black guy in a lab coat. Some gruff looking adventurer with a metal hand. A punk looking girl that seemed to be talking back to her.

“ What is this?”

 _Our prisoners. Your targets._ The whispers told her. _Join us and you may torment her all you like. She caused your fall from grace. If it weren’t for her, you could have done so much more. Here she is. Prime for your eternal revenge._

“ What must I do?” Harriet asked.

 _Touch the Glass._ The whispers ordered. Harriet was quick to follow it’s advice. She lurched as the world twisted and flipped.

She slowly removed her hand from the mirror. She was looking back at herself. She tilted her head. Had she always looked so tired? Had so many bags under her eyes? Was her hair always turning grey? Her reflection place a solemn hand on the mirror and closed her eyes. “ Why do you look so sad?” She asked.  
_Break the mirror._ She looked in shock. Her other self smirked and nodded.

“ Do what you must, Alice.” Harriet told her from the other side of the mirror. Her reflection smiled sadly. “ I’ll go see Grace and Teach. I’ll let you settle everything. As I’ve always let you do.” Alice nodded slowly. She left everything that was her normal, good, magic self on the other side. Her dreams of making everyone happy. Her joy of bringing wonder to others. What she was at the beginning.

“ When did I change?” Alice asked. Harriet shrugged. Alice smirked. “ Catch ya round, Harri. Tell Grace I love ‘er.” Alice swung her cane smashing the glass. A bight light shone, blinding her.

When Alice came back, she was in an all too familiar sight. It was a bit more run down than she remembered, but she was back in her home town theatre. She stood on stage, the lights shining down on her. She felt power surge through her. And she sensed her. Not just Jane Romero, the woman who ruined her, but three others. Any ally of Jane Romero was an enemy of hers. She’d throw them to the wolves. To her new manager. _Now, my Magician. Give them one show they won’t ever forget._

“ With pleasure.” Alice grinned devilishly. She tapped the stage with her cane and watched as two puppets rose from the shadows. “ Life is but a walking shadow. A poor player that struts and frets his hour on the stage and then is heard no more.” She mused. The she started laughing Her laughter echoed from the stage floor all the way through the theatre. The Survivors had taken their seats. Now, it was time for the show to begin.

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored, so I decided to write another Dead by Daylight Killer origin story. You know what Dead by Daylight is missing? A killer magician. Like Harvey from No More Heroes. An incredibly showy killer that makes killing you an marvel to watch. Or something. We have a Clown. I don't know if we'll ever get more "Stage Show killer" than that. Then again, I didn't think we'd ever get a killer with a gun when I wrote "Lost Hope" and here we are now with the Gunslinger on the way. Give it another six months. We'll see.


End file.
